Looking back on the US polls

The people of the United States of America have reelected President Barrack Obama of the Democratic Party. He defeated challenger Mitt Romney of the Republican Party. The presidential race was very close until finally the swing states voted and determined the winner.

What amazed us Filipinos is that within 24 hours the Americans and the world already knew the result and witnessed Romney calling Obama to concede to and congratulate him unlike in our election where the defeated candidate refuses to concede and would even question the result in an election protest.

The election system of the US is peculiar because while it is the most democratic country yet the presidential poll winner is determined by the Electoral College composed of representatives of the voters and not by popular vote.

But why the Electoral College? Well one can find the answer in the book The Federalist where apparently the framers of the Constitution do not trust the popular vote.

In the presidential election the magic number for winning is 270 Electoral College votes. Is there also a popular vote taken in the US presidential election? Yes but it does not determine who wins. There were many cases wherein a candidate lost in the Electoral College but won the popular vote. This happened last in the election wherein Al Gore lost in the Electoral College but won in the popular election.

According to many political commentaries Obama won the votes of several minorities in the US while Romney was strong with the Caucasians. The black Americans, the Latinos and the Asians supported Obama because these sectors believed that the Democrats like him are friendly to them and to millions of illegal immigrants.

There is now a stronger clamor to review the policies of the Republican Party in light of the result of the recent election. While the economy was an issue apparently the Americans did not blame Obama but continued to blame for their woes his predecessor George W. Bush who happens to be a Republican.

The election result apparently showed the majority of the Americans favored the health care program of President Obama. Even his foreign policy got their nod.  While the Democrats controlled the executive department and the Senate the Republican retained its hold on the House of Representatives. Indeed the US presidential election is quite interesting and we Filipinos should learn a lot of lessons from it.

* * *

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas was recently in Cebu and his statement about the flovers just revived the issue once again among the residents.

I know for a fact that Roxas supported the flyover pojects even when Mayor Mike and Congresswoman Cutie del Mar had a meeting with President Benigno Aquino III and some members of the Cabinet.

At the time Roxas was already expressing his opinion in favor of the flyover despite the insistence of Mayor Rama for a master plan and widening of the roads first.

I think Secretary Roxas should first listen to the sentiments of the people before opening his mouth because with his pronouncements he has ignored the sentiments of the people. And I tell you this time we should be careful because these people know that good governance requires that they be consulted before any project could be implemented—a requirement our officials have apparently forgotten.

I hope that the new administration that is touted follow the policy of Daang Matuwid will seriously consider a new advocacy. It’s time they stop violating what they have presented to the people because it is a sign of betrayal.